Flanging-machine.



H. NICCABE.

FLANGING MACHINE.

APPUCATIQN FILED ocLzQ, 1912.

Patented Dec. 21, 1915.

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coLUMBIA PMNMRAPH col. WASHINGTON. nA cA H. lVlcCABE.

FLANGING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED ocT. 29. 1912.

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HUGH MGCABE, 0F LAWRENCE, MASSACHUSETTS.

FLANGING-MACI-IINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 21, 1915.

Application filed October 29, 1912. Serial No. 723,355.

To all 'whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, HUGH MCCABE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lawrence, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Flanging-Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others .skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to flanging machines.

One object of the present invention is to produce a machine for flanging the curved edges of plates without causing the plates to become buckled.

Another obj ect of the present invention is to produce a machine in which the flange is bent with an angularly moving wiping stroke of the bender.

Still another object of the present invention is to improve the construction of flanging machines in certain details, the advantages of which will be apparent to one skilled in the art from the following description. l

With the above objects in view, the present invention consists in the flanging machine hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, which illustrate the preferred embodiment of the present invention, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the machine; Fig. 2 is a front elevation of part of the machine head; Figs. 3, 4 and 5 illustrate modifications of the bender for flanging corners; and Figs. 6 to 11 inclusive illustrate diagrammatically the manner in which a plate is flanged.

The machine of the present invention is an improvement upon, and is illustrated as embodied in the type of flanging machine disclosed in the patents to Hugh McCabe, No. 1,006,861, dated October 9,4, 1911 and No. 1,030,416, dated June 25, 1912.

The method of flanging which is carried out by the machine will first be explained and then the machine will be described.

It is very often desirable to flange a plate cold because of the increased labor and time consumed in heating the edge of the plate before it is operated upon by the flanging machine. A machine of the type disclosed in my two prior patents above mentioned will operate satisfactorily to bend a flange on the straight edge of a cold plate, but if a plate having a curved edge such as a circular plate is flanged cold, the plate will be buckled. For example, if a round plate has its entire edge flanged cold, the middle portion of the plate will be buckled, or dished, concave on the side of the plate which is opposite the direction in which the flange extends. Referring particularly to Figs. 6, 7 and 11 of the drawings, the reason for this will be apparent. Figs. 6 and 1l show the side and top view respectively of a flat, round, metal plate. In Fig. 7 is illustrated the same plate after it has received a single flange bending stroke through an angle of about 30 degrees, such as would be given it by either of the machines shown in my two patents, if the plate was cold. It will be noticed in Fig. 7, that while the edge of the plate is turned downward to partially form the ange, the plate is bent transversely being concaved upward so that it presents a sort of flattened saddle-shaped surface. The reason why the bending of the plate downward longitudinally of the edge to form the flange causes the plate to be transversely bent or buckled concave upon its upper side can best be explained with particular reference to Figs. 7 and 1l. The plate 1 is bent longitudinally of its edge over the edge of a clamping block or anvil 2 about an axis which is tangent to the broken line 3 which indicates the base of the flange which is to be bent around the entire circumference of the plate. The circumference of the plate around its extreme outer edge 4 is considerably greater than the circumference of the circle indicated at 3. Now, if a flange is turned at right angles to the plate the entire distance around its edge, it will be obvious that the extreme edge 4 will have to have the same circumference as the base 3 of the flange. To accomplish this, the metal at the extreme outer edge 4 must necessarily be longitudinally compressed and so flow that the outer edge 4 becomes thickened with respect to the base 3 of the flange, because the surplus metal due to the greater initial circumference of the edge 4 must be taken care of. The metal at the edge 4 of the plate, however, resists the longitudinal compression, so that, as shown in Fig. 7, instead of the plate remaining flat and the edge 4 becoming longitudinally compressed when it is flanged, the resistance of the edge 4 to longitudinal compression causes it to push out sidevvise and bow or buckle the plate transversely and concavely upward. Since the plate is held clamped only by the Work clamp in the machines illustrated in the above mentioned patents, the edge l retains substantially the same length as in the flat'plate, the edge 4 at the bent over portion keeping its original thickness and being pushed out sidevvise to Warp or buckle the plate transversely. lf the bending operation. on a cold plate, the first step of which is shovvn'in Fig; 7, is carried von as described in my prior patents, until the entire circumference of the round plate l is flanged, each time the flange is bent, the resistance of the edge 4l to longitudinal compression will cause the plate to be buckled or made `concave' on its upper side, so although after the complete flange' is bent, the edge l is thickcned by the flow of metal which compensates for the greater initial circumference of the edge, nevertheless, the plate will present a buckled appearance, the middle portion being dished or made concave on its upper side due to the transverse bending of the plate every time the edge is turned down, as shown in Fig. 7.

lf theedge of the plate l is heated and the flange is bent, the hot metal readily flows so that the eXtreme edge 4 thickens instead of being pushed out sid'ewvise, as

shown Fig. 7, so that although a cold iron or steel plate cannot satisfactorily be flanged in the machines illustrated inthe above mentioned patents, nevertheless, if the edges are heated, the plates can be satisfactorily flanged Without buckling. However, it is cheaper to flange a plate Without having to heat it,V and one of the objects of the present invention is to provide' a machine, preferably of the type described in the above patents, by means of which a metal plate having a curved edge can be flanged cold. According tothe present invention, the transverse buckling of the plate, shown in Fig. 7, is prevented by clamping the plate in such a position that when its edge is bent over longitudinally to form the flange, the extreme edge al cannot move out side'uise to buckle the plate, but the metal must flow so that the edge 4 is longitudinally compressed and is thickened. Sup'- p'ose the plate to be clamped transversely fiat While the edge is flanged. Under these circumstances even though the edge 4; is longitudinally compressed, the cold metal of the edge l is elastic enough so that when the plate is released thev edge 4e will expand longitudinally to some extent and cause the p latev to be buckled somewhat as shown in Fig. 7, only less so. Therefore, in order that the metal at the extreme edge 4 of the plate shall be thickened sufciently, so that after the plate is unclaniped the plate Will not .be buckled, but Will be substantially flat, it is necessary to bend the plate transversely so that the plate is concave on the side which faces the direction in which the flange projects. As above pointed out, if the plate is free to buckle, or if it is merclv held fiat, the bending of the flange will cause u transverse strain in the plate. The term strain, as here used, is to be understood :is used in scientific language, meaning the deformation which results from a stress. .l ccording to the method of the present iuvcntion, the undesirable trz'insverse strain which results in buckling the plate obifiated, or as i'night be said anticipated. b v reversely straining the plate by an amount approximately the same as the plate would be transversely strained as :i result of hending the edge longitmlinalljv' to flange it.

Referring rmrtumlarly to Figs. S, Sl, l() and ll, 'the plate l, according to the preferred nimmer of carrying out the method of the present invention, is first given a reverse strain transversely to the edge by means of tuo members 5 which engage the plate on the side opjkiosito the clamping block or anvil. l and bend the plate transr ly over it. so that the plate ussun'ies the shape shown in Fig. 8. Then, while the plate' is held thus re.'er.-;;el v and transverseliv strained, the edge of the plate is bent longitudinally of the edge downward through an angle of about 30 degrees about an axis which is tangent to the base line il of the completed iange, so that the flange extends from the lower or concave side of the transversely bent plate. The members hold the plate so that it cannot buckle and, therefore, the metal at the extreme edge l is longitudinally compressed and is forced to :flow so that the surplus metal is taken care if' l y the thickening of the edge. The now has the form shown in Fig. El.

e Then, the platev is freed from the stress exerted upon it by the members 5 and the anvilv The resiliency, which the cold metal at the edge lpossesses, causes the edge l at the turned down portion to tend to' resume its original length, so that when the plate is free, the plate springs back suhstuntially flat, as shoivn in Fig. l0. After the first flange bending operation, illustrated diagrannnatically in Figs. S, 5) and 10, has taken place, the plate is turned to present another portion of its circumference to the clamping block the members 5 and the bender, and the operation is repeated until the entire circumference of the plate is flanged, as will be readily understood by one skilled in the art from a perusal of my two prior patents above mentioned. Of course, it to be understood that the amount Which an unclamped plate will bc transversely strained by flanging shown in 7, and the amount of reverse strain applied to the plate, as shown in Figs. S,

and 9 are exaggerated for the purpose of better presenting to the eve the method of the present invention. It is evident that, as the reverse, transverse strain is applied te compensate for the resiliency of the metal, it is within the elastic limit of the metal, `when-ias the bend which is imparted to set the flange is beyond the elastic limit of the metal.

While in the preferred manner of' practising the present invention, the pla-te is first transversely bent and then the flange is bent while the plate is held transversely bent` nevertheless, it is within the purview of the present invention, viewed in its broader aspects, to simultaneously transversely bend the plate and bend the flange so that the extreme edge of the plate is longitudinally compressed at the same time the flange is set, or to first bend the flange on the plate and to subsequently transverselv bend the plate while the flange is held bent to longitudinalli7 compress the metal at the eXtreme edge of the plate. The invention, viewed in one of its broader aspects, consists in counteracting the tendency of the plate to warp when the flange is bent by reverselv and transversely bending or straining the plate whether the reverse bending or straining takes place before or after the bending of the flange or simultaneouslv with it. i

The illustrated embodiment of the machine of the present invention will now be described. rThe plate 1, which is to be flanged, is held in a work clamp which comprises an anvil 2 and a clamping block 10. The anvil 2 is lifted by means of a wedge 11 operated from a compressed air cylinder 12 to firmly press the clamp face against the work to clamp the work in place. The upper clamp block or member 10 can be swung up about a hinge 13 by means of' a handle 14 so that the work can be readily removed after it is flanged. The flange is bent upon the edge of the plate by means of a bender which comprises a work engaging plate 15 which is mounted upon a segmental bender carrier 16 which is provided with a segmental gear 17. The segmental gear 17 meshes with a rack 18 which is reciprocated by means of compressed air in the cylinder 19 to impart an angular movement to the bender. The bender is repeatedly oscillated through an angle somewhat more than 30 degrees and the work is fed and clamped until a flange of about 30 degrees is turned around the entire periphery of the plate. Then the bender is shifted forwardly sc that the completed flange is bent in a plurality of steps, as clearly described in the McCabe l?atent No. 1,030,416. The above mentioned parts with the exceptions hereinafter noted have substantially the same construction and mode of operation as the corresponding parts in the Mc- Cabe Patent No. 1,030,416, and further detailed description thereof is unnecessary.

The anvil 2 about which the flange is bent, instead of having a flat top, as in the machine shown in the llflcCabe patent, has its top transversely rounded, as clearly shown in Fig. `2 of the drawings. The upper clamping block 10 has a fiat, work engaging surface and is provided with two laterally extending arms 30 in which are screwthreaded two work engaging members or studs 5. @ne of the studs is provided with a hand wheel 31 and is connected to the other stud by means of sprockets 82 and a chain so that both studs can be turned simultaneously. After the first flange bending movement of the bender 15, the plate is turned to bring an unflanged portion into the work clamp, the flanged portion being moved to one side of the clamp. rlhe dissymmetry between the flanged portion on one side of the clamp and the unflanged portion on the other, causes the plate to move forward on one side and backward on the other side beneath the studs so that the arms 30 experience a couple tending to twist the block 10 about a vertical axis. To brace the arms 30 against twisting, a removable tie rod extends from each arm 30 to the frame of the machine.

In the front of the arms 30 are formed recesses 36 in which are received the forked legs 37 of a spacing rod 38. The legs 37 have holes at their ends to receive locking pins 30 to hold them in the recesses 36. @n the other end of' the spacing rod 38 are adjustably mounted two collars 43 and 44, between which is mounted a screw-threaded pin 46 which has an eye in its shaft so that it can be longitudinally adjusted on the rod 38 by means of the collars. The upper end of `the pin 46 also has an eye by means of which it is connected to a block and tackle 47 hung from overhead in the shop-building. The lower end of the pin 46 is screwthreaded to receive a nut 48. Vf hen a circular plate is to be flanged, a small hole is drilled through the center of the plate. Then, the threaded end of the pin 46 is passed through it and the nut 4S screwed into place. rllhe plate 1 can then be lifted by the block and taclrle 47 and swung up to the machine where it is positioned with relation to the work clamp by means of the collars 43 and 44 on the spacing rod 38. The edge of the vplate. 1 is thus accurately positioned in the flanging machine, while the plate is f'ree to turn about its center to present successive portions of the periphery to be flanged.

In order to bend the flange with a wiping stroke of the bender plate 15, the anvil 2 and bender plate 15 are arranged somewhat differently than they are in the Mc- Cabe patents above mentioned.` In the machine of the present invention, the axis about which the bender escillates is indicated by the X 50 (see Fig. 1). This axis is located inwardly from the edge of the anvil- 2. As shown in Fig. 1, the bender plate 15 is farther-'above the anvil in its initial position than in the machine of the McCabe patents. rlhis is necessary because the anvil projects some distance to the right, as viewed in Fig. 1., of the axis of oscillation 50 of the bender plate. rllhe bender face or side ot the anvil, as indicated at 51, is undercut somewhat so that the iiange is bent a little bit beyond a right angle to compensate for the elastic springing back of' the flange, which as described in the McCabe Patent, No. 1,030,416 must be allowed for. The face 51 of the anvil extends thus yat about right angles to the upper face of the anvil against which the work is clamped and ttor-ms with it the corner about which the flange is bent. The axis 50 is removed from the corner of the anvil and is nearer the face of the anvil against which the work is clamped than it is the face 51. As shown in Fig. 1, the bender plate 15 moves laterallytoward the corner of the anvil simultaneously with its angular movement about the corner, so that these two movements combine to give the bender plate an angular wiping sti-olie against the work. The bender plate 15 moves from the dotted line position into the full line position shown in F ig. 1 'for the first st-ep in bending the flange.v Afterward, the segment is twice shifted forwardly so that when the Flange bending operation is completed, the bender plate 15 carries kthe edge of the plate 1 against the undercut face or side 51 ot' the anvil. ils will be readily understood from an inspection ol Fig. 1, the bender plate 15 will first engage the'eXtreme outer edge of.' the plate, and since it is oscillating about an axis which is located inward from the edge of the anvil about which the flange is bent, the bender plate 15 will slide downwardly on the plate as it bends its edge, thus bending the flange with a downward angular wiping stroke. This wiping stroke is much more effective in setting the ange than an angular movement of the bender plate without the wiping movement.

rllhe operation of the machine illustrated in the drawings is as follows The round plate 1, which is to be flanged cold, is hung upon the pin 11G and properly spaced from the clamping machine by means of the spacing rod 38 so that the line 3 which marks the baseo-f the flange lies at the corner ol the anvil about which the flange is to be turned. The hand wheel 31 is turned until the studs pro-ject the proper distance below the face vof the upper clamping member 10. The amount that the studs 5 are to project varies with the size of the plate to be flanged, with its thickness and with the resiliency ol thc metal. Y'Vith a circular plate of boiler iron about one-hall an inch thick and about four feet in diameter, l find that the studs 5 should be set to project about live-eighths of an inch. Then, the compressed air is admitted into the cylinder 12 and the wed/fe 11 forced into place to clamp the plate as will be readily understood from my two patents above mentioned. As the top plate of the anvil 2 is lifted by the wedge 1l, the plate 1 is reversely strained or bent so that its upper side is convex, as shown in Figs. 2 and 8. Then, while the plate is held thus clamped and reversely strained, the compressed air is admitted to the cylinder lil moving the bender from the dotted line position to the full line position, illustrated iu Fig. 1, to bend the edge ot' the [lange through an angle of a little over 30 degress. The plate now is in the shape illustrated iu Fig. 2l. Then, the compressed air is admitted into the other end of the cylinder 1.5) to move the bender' from the l'ull line into 'the dotted line position and the compressed air is admitted into the cylinder 12 to unclamp the plate. lllhe plate which is relieved of the bending stress caused by the anvil Q and the studs 5 springs into shape substantially like the illustration in Fig. 10. Then, the plate is swung about the bolt L1G as an axis to present an unflanged adjacent portion on the edge to the machine and the 'Hanging operation is repeated again and again until the entire edge of the plate is flanged through an angle ot' about l0 degrees. l'lhile the plate, as illustrated in Figs. 8, l) and is shown as having been transversely bent only enough so that when the plate in unclamped it will be flat, it is, however, found preferable to transversely bend the plate by means of' the studs 5 so that when the plate is unclamped it will not be exactly flat, but will be slightly bent conveXly upwardly so that after the plate is flanged all the way around through an angle of about() degrees,the cen* -ter of the plate will be slightly crowned. After the flange is set through an angle oit about 30 degrees, the rack 18 is shifted on the segmental gear 17 and the flange is bont until it stands at about G0 degrees to the plate. Then, the rack and segmental. gear are shifted again and the bender is moved against the tace 51 ol the anvil to set the flange at right angles to the plate. The manipula,- tion of the valves and levers for admitting the compressed air and for shifting the rack and gear will be readily understood trom my two prior patents above n'ientioned. During the operation of bending the flange from a to 60 degree angle, the studs 5 are set about three-eighths of an inch below the face of the clamping block 10, and dur` ing the last bending operation in which the SIL flange is finally set at right angles to the plate, the studs 5 are set about three-sixtenths of an inch below the face of the clamping block 10. It is to be understood that these measurements are only approximate and are such as l have found to give about the right results with a boiler-iron plate about four feet in diameter and onehalf inch in thickness when it is flanged cold. The studs 5 are preferably set so that after the flange is set through an angle of 60 degrecs the plate is still slightly crowned. During the bending of the flange from a 60 degree to a 90 degree angle, the studs 5 are preferably set to hold the plate transversely bent to such an amount that when it is unclamped, it will spring back to leave the plate substantially Hat. It will be noticed that during the three successive bending operations, from 0 to 30 degrees, from 30 to 60 degrees and from 60 to 90 degrees respectively, the distance that the studs 5 are set below the face of the clamp plate l() is successively reduced. This is because as the flange is bent more and more it stiffens the edge of the plate and renders it less resilient to a transverse strain so that after the plate is released it cannot spring back as much. After the flange is set through 90 degrees, or the desired angle, the tie rods 35 are loosened, the pins 39 are removed to free the spacing rod 38 and the upper clamping block is swung up by means of the lever lei so that the flanged plate can be removed from the machine.

The work engaging face of the bender plate 15 and the face 5l of the anvil 2 are substantially flat or slightly curved for operating upon the curved edges of plates. The bender and anvil are removably mounted upon the machine so that they may be replaced by bender plates and anvils of different shapes. For example, after the straight edges of a rectangular plate have been flanged, there are left the corners, where there is a great deal of surplus metal which must be taken care of when the corner is flanged. To flange the corners, the metal at the corners is heated and then the flange at the corners is set with a special bender plate and anvil which act as die blocks for shaping the corner as well as bending the flange. Two forms of bender plates and anvils are shown in the drawings. Tn Figs. 3 and 4 are shown a bender plate and anvil for forming a fairly sharp flanged corner, while in Fig. 5 is shown a bender plate and anvil for forming a rounded flanged corner. Referring particularly to Figs. 3 and 4, the face 60 of the anvil is wedge-shaped, and fits in a corresponding groove 61 in the face of the bender plate l5. The bender plate 15 is oscillated about the line 50 as an axis so that it presses the hot metal into shape with an angular wiping stroke. This angular wiping stroke is particularly efficient in that it draws the metal which is between the opposing faces of the anvil and the bender plate and causes it to flow into the shape of the completed flange. In Fig. 5, the face 7() of the anvil is rounded and fits into a round bottomed groove Il in the bender plate l5 so that a rounded corner is formed on the flanged plate.

While the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been specifically illustrated and described, it is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to its preferred embodiment, but may be embodied in other constructions within the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.

l. A machine for flanging the curved edge of a plate having, in combination, means for transversely straining the edge of the plate to such an amount that when the plate is released after it is flanged, the edge of the plate is substantially-flat, and means for flanging the edge of the plate while it is so strained.

2. A machine for flanging the curved edge of a plate having, in combination, means for bending the edge of the plate longitudinally of the edge to an amount exceeding the elastic limit of the material, and means for bending the plate transversely to its edge by an amount not exceeding the elastic limit of the material, both of said bends being concave on the same side of the plate.

8. A machine for flanging the curved edge of a plate having, in combination, a work clamp comprising an anvil about which the edge of the plate is turned to form a flange and means for clamping the plate on the anvil, members engaging the plate on the side opposite the anvil for bending the edge of the plate transversely over the anvil, a bender, and means for moving the bender to bend the edge of the plate around the anvil to flange the plate while it is held transversely bent.

4. A machine for flanging the curved edge of a plate having, in combination, a work clamp comprising an anvil having a corner about which the edge of the plate is turned to form a flange, the work engaging face of the anvil being conveily and transversely rounded, means engaging the plate on the side of the plate opposite the anvil for bending the edge of the plate transversely over the anvil so that the edge of the plate is bent concave toward the anvil, a bender, and means for moving the bender to bend the edge of the plate around the corner of the anvil to bend a flange extending from the concave side of the transversely bent plate.

5. A machine for flanging the curved edge e www,

e of a plate having, in combination, a Work clamp, an angularly moving bender for Hanging the plate While clamped, an arm Connected to the Work clamp and projecting substantially horizontally over the top of the plate, a pin on the arm adapted to be engaged in a hole in the plate being flanged to space the plate with relation to the Work clamp, and an overhead Connection for supeporting the arm and plate.

6. A machine for Hanging the curved edge of a plate having, in Combination, a Work clamp fore engaging and holding the Work stationary during the langing operation, adjustable members at the sides of the clamp for transversely bending the edge of the plate over the clamp, a bender, and means for angularly moving the bender` to flange Washington-Q1?. C.

the edge of the plate While it is held stationary by the work clamp.

7. A machine for iianging the curved edge of a plate having, in combination, a work clamp for engaging and holding the Work stationary during Jche Hanging operation, means engaging the plate at the sidel of the Work clamp for transversely bending the edge of the plate While the plate is held stationary by the Work clamp, a bender, and means for angularly moving the bender to flange the edge of the plate while it is held stationary by the Work clamp.

HUGH MCCABN.

lVitnesses GEORGE STEBBINs, HORACE VAN Evnnnx.

e cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, 

